Mechanism for producing cartons



L. BENOIT ET AL MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING CARTONS April 21, 1936.

Original Fi1 ed March 1, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l April 21, 1936.- BE'NolTETAL 2,038,406

MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING CARTONS Original Filed March' 1, 1935 3Sheets-Sheet 2 April 21, 1936. E o T ET AL 2,038,406

MECHANISM FOR PRODU CING CARTONS Original Filed March 1, 1955 5Sheets-Sheet 5 W .HMIQ- Registered Apr. 21, 1936 PATENT OFFICE MECHANISMFOR PRODUCING CARTONS Leon Benoit, New York, and E. Joseph Kanabay,Nyack, N. Y.; said Kanabay assignor to said Benoit Original applicationMarch 1, 1933, Serial No.

Patent No. 1,970,550, dated August 21, 1935. Divided and'thisapplication June 21,

1934, Serial No. 731,617

7 Claims. (01. 164

The mechanism of the present invention, (heretofore disclosed in anapplication filed March 1, 1933, under Serial No. 659,128 of which thiscase is a division) is designed primarily for the purpose of die-cuttingonce folded blanks forming the body of an egg carton of the general kindset forth and described in Letters Patent No. 1,768,023, issued June 24,1930, to Leon Benoit.

In cartons of this character it is customary to construct the body ofthe carton from a single sheet of paper board which is folded uponitself along a medial score line forming a blank of double thickness;the blank so folded is then slotted and punched to provide openingsthrough whichcross partitions are inserted.- Inasmuch as the foldedblank is of double thickness, a single operation of punching willsuflice to produce in the-two thicknesses openings which are aligned andidentical.

The present invention also has todo with the folding of the two halvesof the blank about the medial line of fold while being fed into the diemechanism, as well as means for centering and properly locating the oncefolded blank with reference to the cutting blades of the die-cuttingmechanism.

Further details will appear from the description of the invention inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the machine in its entirety;

V Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled carton made from a blankwhich has been diecut in the present machine;

Fig. 3 is a view of the blank, folded upon itself and die-cut inaccordance with the present in-' vention;

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view of the machine as viewed on line 4-4 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation view, the section being taken on line5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view of the face of the die as shown on line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on line 1--l ofFig. 6; and

1 Fig. 8 is a view in perspective showing the relation between thedie-cutting heads, the diverging guides and the feeding arm The variousoperations involved in the present mechanism have to do with thefoldingand dieing of carton blanks p made desirably of suitable paper material,in preparation for the reception of the cross walls in conformity withascheme of assembly not here shown. The carton blanks in'flat unfoldedform are first introduced into. the mechanism in the form of a verticalstack arranged within a hopper A. It is customary to.

first print the carton blanks with the intended designations and providethem with a series of longitudinal score lines or ribs, as indicated inFigs. 2 and 3. The carton blanks in flatwise position are fed forwardthrough rollers B into a bender C in the nature of a press which breaksdown the blank along the score lines.

The mechanisms just referred to are shown and described in detail inLetters Patent No.

1,970,950, issued under date of August 21, 1934,.

and need not be described again in detail, inasmuch as we are hereconcerned particularly with the die-mechanism D.

The blank is first folded to V-form along a medial score line a. Each ofthe halves of the blank lying on opposite sides of the medial line offold a. is alsobent along similar score lines I), c, d. When erectedtofinal position, each half of the blank is in the form of a trough withthe score line b constituting the inverted ridge of the carton, with thesection 2 subtended between the score lines o and c, constituting anoblique outer wall, with the section I subtended between the score lines0 and d constituting the top, and with the marginal section beyond thescore line (1 constituting a flap to tuck in for the purpose of closingthe carton.

. While being acted upon by the breaker mechanism C, the carton blank ismedially folded and thereafter advanced to the die-punching mechanism.D.Here it is subjected to the action of dies that cutv outcertain verticalslots g which traverse the score lines I) so that each of the twoopposite sections of the carton blank will be similarly punched.Simultaneously, the medial score line a is died to cut out half-circularnotches h which appear as circular holes in the flattened blank. 7

From the die-punching mechanism," the carton blanks are fed forwardly in'edgewise relation to a stacker E within which the carton blanks arecompressed into a horizontally extending stack with the folded cartonblanks standing on their folded edges, as indicated at the right ofFigs. 1.

pendicular to the drive shaft I2, is driven therefrom as by means ofbeveled gears l6 and I1.

Each blank is ejected from the bending mechanism C, its lower edge iscaught by rollers l8 which are driven by the shaft 12 through suitablyentrained driving connections, not shown, and fed forward to the diepress D. Rollers I 8 cooperate with rollers I8 in feeding forward thecarton, which, it will be noted, is folded so that the wing portions lieadjacent each. other during its advance forward by the pairs of rollersI8 and I9. It is necessary in feeding the. blanks forward that the wingportions or the carton blanks be lifted as they are advanced into thedie press, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1,. and to effect thisresult apair of convergingv obliquely disposed guide bars 211 areprovided. These guide bars extend obliquely upward to a plane above thelevel of the die press and terminate in horizontally extending guideportions 2I', which are closely spaced and extendiin parallel relationand are upturned at their. forwardends at. 22.. The-advancing. blanksare: thus' folded into flatwise relation as they enter the die press andstand vertically upon the medial score line a. which constitutes thefolding line: of. the blank. The rollers l8 and I9 serve to impart.the-necessary impetus tocarrythe'.foldedblanks forwardly tosubstantially the position; indicated. in Fig. 6,. but this impetus. hasa tendency to. slightly tilt each blank obliquely, as in Fig- 6. Inorder to accurately position the blanks to receive the die: cuts, thefollowing mechanism is provided;

A. stop block- 23 is located in position. to. engage the folded blanknear its forward. lower corner when projected upwardly into the fullline position shown in Fig. 6, and. to release the blank when. the blockis depressed to the dotted line. position. The. stop block 23 is carriedby a vertical bar'24, the lower end of which is actuated by a cam 25 onthe longitudinally extending cam shaft I5.

The stop block 23. coacts with a swinging arm 2.6. carried by a head 21mounted upon the upper.

end of a vertical shaft 28 which extends through.

a stationary journal. standard 29, which standard is. provided near itsupper endv with an out.- standing. bracket segment 30, which. affords a.guide rest for the arm 25 which swings from the; full line position tothe broken line position shown. in Fig; 4.

The swinging arm 26 at. its free. end carriersa finger 3| (see Fig. '7)of channel formation! which embraces the tip end of the arm and ispivotally mounted upon a pintle 32. The finger extends. beyond the arm,and its-.inner end ter-' minates in a tail piece 33 to which. secured acoil spring. 34 which normally serves to hold the channel shaped fingerrearwardly into contact with a plunger 35 backed by a spring 36 (seeFig. '7). The finger is positioned to ride upon the horizontal guidebarsZl, and on its advancing movement to ride upwardly 'upon a pair of.elevated shoes 31, and the amplitude of movement imparted to the arm issufiicient to carry the finger 3|. beyond the shoes 31', after whichsufficient freedom of movement is afforded in the mounting for the arm26 topermit the spring pressed draw pin 31 to draw down the armsufficiently to bring the finger below the level of'the proximate shoe,so that on the return movement of the parts the finger will rideagainstthe proximate. side wall of the shoe, as-indicated in dotted lines inFig. '7, thereby permitting the finger to return. without bridgingacross the slot. between.

the guide bars 2|, so that, although the finger is positioned to assist,on its forward movement, in advancing a carton blank to position withinthe die press, it will not thereafter, on its return movement, interferewith the progress of the next oncoming blank between the guide bars20-2I.

As shown in Fig. 8, the guide finger 3| is provided with a prong 38which on the forward movement overlies the upper exposed edge of thecarton blank (see Fig. 6) at the same time that the finger pressesagainst the rear edge, and these two contacts in unison serve toimpart adownward and forward thrust at the upper rear corner of the car-tonblank, and this thrust together with the downward movement of the block23' causes the carton blank to settle down from the tilted positionshown in Fig. 6 into the levelposition occupied during the die-cuttingoperation. While the blank is being punched, the block 23' is furthermoved downwardly to occupy a position below the line of movement of. theblank after the'same has been punched.

The die. press comprises a vertically standing. backing, frame39-provided1 with a baseflange 40; and a top flange 4|, and the backingframe has secured thereto a face plate 42 which is provided. with a.level; shoulder 43'which furnishes a ledge upon which the base edge ofthe folded carton blank rests during the dieing operation. The. baseportion of the plate has bolted: thereto an upstanding. front plate44,,which above theshoulder 43 stands in spaced relation to the faceplate 42- tov afford a deep narrow channel for the pas-' sage. of.the'carton' blanks, and to strip the blank fromthe dies; I

The dieing," out of the slots in the folded cartonf blanks is performedby a group of vertically disposedspaced saw toothed die members 45.-which. operate through slots 45 and 41,, respectively, in: the frontplate 44 and the face plate 42:. The. resulting cutting is a shearingrather thani a punching operation. The half-circular notches inthefolded base edges of the carton blanks arecut by die members 48operating through slots 49; and" 50;, respectively, in the front plateand the face plate. If desired, upper cuts in alignment with the slotsmay be formed by a die-memher 5 I. operating through-openings 52 and;53, respectivelyg, in the: front plate and face plate (see Fig. 5).

In order to afford'sufticient amplitude'of movement to the die members,thebacking frame-32- is. likewise provided with openings; which registerwith and constitute continuations of the-openings in the face plate.The-die'membersrare carried by ablock. 54; secured to the inner'face of.a longitudinally extending rocking bar 55 providedwith brackets 56mounted upon a shaft 5 1;, theaxisi'of: which lies within; the, planeoccupied by the carton blanks? during the dieing operation. Asshown,the-die.- membersand slots through which they operate are arcua-telyconfigured to allowforv the slight arcuate' movement imparted by a,rocking of the bar 55 on its shaft 5-1.

The bar '55 has depending therefrom an arm 58, the lower end of: whichhas pivoted thereto therinner. end of a; pitman. 59., the outer endofwhich is pivoted to a' lever fifl'pivoted on apint-le 6| carried by abracket 62' on the forwardside of the tablaand a rocking motion isimparted to the lever through the medium. of. a pitman 63-slotted: at:its inner end. to embrace the shaft I 5. The pitman 63 is provided witha roller 64- which engagesa cam 65 carried by the shaft I5, so'thatrocking motions. are imparted; to thebar 55 at- 69 is provided (see Fig.8), which members are carried by a post 10 upstanding from the backingframe 39. The post 10 also serves as a means for supporting the innerends of. the guide bars 2!, one of the bars being supported directly bythe post and the other being supported through a spacer pin H dependingfrom the overhanging guide plate 68. r

Fig. 4 shows the die bar 55 swung back to expose the inner face .withthe cutting die members 45 retracted sufficiently to permit theinsertion of a carton blank. As the die closes, the bar 55 will swingfrom the oblique position indicated in Fig. 4 to the vertical positionindicated in Fig. 5. During the dieing operation, the swinging arm 25which carries the finger 3| occupies the intermediate position indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 4, but after the conclusion of the dieingoperation, the arm 26 moves forwardly to the right hand dotted lineposition to feed the blank out of the dies. It will be noted that duringthis last feeding movement, the stop block 23 is at rest in a downwardposition indicated by the dotted line shown in Fig. 6. Thus the blank ispermitted to move forwardly under the thrust of the swinging arm.

The movements of the arm 26 are controlled by the action of a cam 12carried by the cam shaft l5 which operates on the lower end of thevertical rock shaft which carries the arm and imparts first a feedingmovement into the die cutters,

and after a period of rest a short terminal movement to discharge thedied blanks and move them forwardly into the bite of a pair of powerrollers l3l3, which feed them forwardly into the stacker .E. Themovement of the stop block 23 is likewise controlled by a cam 25 intimed relation to the feeding and discharging movements of the swingingarm (see Fig. 1).

The stacker E is horizontally arranged and comprises a pair of spacedrails 14 of angle formation, one of the rails being provided with aflared mouth 15 to receive the folded blanks standing edgewise inposition to be actuated by aplunger 16 carried by guide rods 11operating through guides 78. A cross head 79 connects the guide rods 11,and a p-itman 80 serves to reciprocate the cross head. The pitman ispivoted at the upper end of a lever 8| (see Figs. 1-4) which is pivotedon a pintle 82 and is operated by a cam 83. The initial reciprocation ofthe plunger carries it past a pair of swinging spring-pressed stops84-434 which yield under the pressure of an incoming carton blank butprevent return thereof, so that by the repeated reciprocations of theplunger, a stack of cartons standing vertically edgewise is depositedwithin the guideway afforded by the rails 14.

In order to positively and evenly position the carton blanks deliveredfrom the rollers 13, a swinging arm 85 is provided which is mounted upona vertical rock shaft 86 and is actuated from the full line positionshown in Fig. 4 to the dotted line position. The rock shaft 86 isactuated by a cam 81 on the cam shaft l5.

The cuttings removed during This completes the series of operationsperformed in the mechanism which'finally stacks the cartons in form tobe removed and delivered to the mechanism provided for inserting thecross walls through the slots and folding and delivering the cartons ina completed knock-down condition.

In operation, the'printed and. scored blanks are successively fed fromthe stack through the rollers B to the breaking mechanism C, and at thispoint are bent along the spaced parallel scoring lines to provide a'medial V-shaped body portion with outstanding wing portions on eitherside thereof. From the breaking mechanism the once folded blanks are fedby the rollers l8 and. I9 through the converging guide bars 20 where thewing portions will be engaged and progressively lifted or bent upwardlyinto fiatwiserelation to one another in preparation for the entry ofthe. blank into the die mechanism D, so that during the diecuttingoperation the blank will stand in once folded'relation to receive thecorresponding die cuts. through the two plies of the blank, as well asthe half-circular notches in the folded base edge thereof.

In preparation for the die-cutting operation, the blank will be properlypositioned by the combined action of the stop block 23 and thespringpressed finger 3 I, and after receiving the die cuts, the blankwill be further advanced by the terminal swing of the arm 26 to bringthe forward vertical edges of the blank into the bite of the rollers 73which advance the folded and died blank to the stacker E within which itis positively positioned by the swing of the kicker arm 85.

We claim:

1. In a die-cutting mechanism for carton blanks, the combination of afixed die having openings therein, a shoulder formed on the die forsupporting the blank, a punching head hinged to the die and adapted tocooperate therewith in punching the blank, a movable stop positioned inthe plane of the shoulder and normally positioned thereabove to stop theincoming blank, the stop being retractable below the level of theshoulder to position the blank thereon and to permit ejection of theblank across the top of the stop after the blank has been punched.

2. In a die-cutting mechanism for carton blanks, the combination of afixed die, a punching head movable relative to the die, guide means forthe incoming blank, an arm adapted to-move the blank to final positionwithin the die-cutting mechanism, and a cam for deflecting the end ofthe arm out of the path of the next oncoming blank.

3. In a die-cutting mechanism for carton blanks, the combination of afixed die, a punching head movable relative to the die, guide means foran incoming blank, an arm adapted to swing in a plane perpendicular tothe plane of the blank, a finger pivoted to the end of the arm extendingtherebeyond into the plane traversed by the incoming blank, and a cam onthe guide means positioned in the path of the finger which permits thelatter to move the blank to dieing position and thereafter swing thefinger out of the plane of the oncoming carton.

4. In a die-cutting mechanism for carton blanks, the combination of afixed die, a punching head movable relative to the die, guide means forincoming blanks, an arm swingable in a horizontal plane traversing thatof the incoming blank, the arm having an interrupted movement whereby itis first moved to advance the blank to position fordi-cuttingand'thereafter'to move the die blank from die-cutting position;

5. In a die-cutting mechanism for" carton' blanks, the combination of afixed die, a swingable head carrying a punch adapted to cooperate withthe die in punching the blank, aniovable stop positioned between thepunch and die and normally positioned in the path of an incomingswinging movement of the punching head;

6. In a die-cutting mechanism for carton blanks, the combinationof afixed die, a swingable head carrying a punch adapted to-cooper ate withthe die in punching the blank, a mov' able stop positioned between thepunch and? die and-normally positioned in the path of an incoming blank,guide means by which the incoming blank is guided between the punch anddie, feeding means including a swingable arm, a

yieldable finger pivoted to the end of the arm and adapted to engage theblank and feed it into the die-cutting mechanism and against the 'stop,the

advancingjthe' blank and a final movement for partially ejecting theblank after die-cutting, and

32151196; onzther guide 'means for lifting the finger during 'its' finalmovement, the shoe being of such a; length that the finger will be drawndown beyond; the ends thereof at the end of its final movem'entisothat'as the arm swings in the opposite direction-the finger will rideagainst the proximate: side wall of the shoe and out of the pathofrthenext oncoming blank.

'7. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a fixed diehaving openings therethrough, a punching head pivotally connected to thedie,- an arcuate punch secured to the punching'head in register with theopening in the die, the forwardiedge of the punch being notched toprovide a shearing edge which cooperates with the: opening in the die,means for rocking the punching head wherebythe punch is alternatelymovedfrompunching to withdrawn position, and' means for feeding andcentering a blank between the: punch and die in timed relation to themovement' thereof LEON BENOIT.

E. JOSEPH KANABAY.

